You know, for some reason while I'm listening to music from "Hokuto No Ken"(Fist of the North Star for you non-otaku people), it's making think of what anime is like today.(Of course, that was a few days ago.)

It seems like some anime is sorta like "dime-a-dozen", with a lot of either harem anime or DBZ clones or animes with weak storyline/character development/etc.

While we've had a few really good anime happen in the last decade(Death Note,Spice and Wolf,Chobits(Your mileage may vary) and a few others) and even the last century(Cowboy Bebop,Big O,Serial Experiments Lain,FLCL(Yes, it's classy.. in a way),Neon Genesis Evangelion(Just saying that for the "otakus"),etc.).

Of course, we didn't dodge any mediocre anime, like say.. "K-ON","Naruto","Bleach"(Yeah, go head and attack me, Ichigo fanboys and fangirls, as a user on my forum put it(in a topic about "Bleach")... "Ichigo is a "one-dimensional" character"),Lucky Star(Frankly Azumanga is more humorous) and others.

Would you say, that anime has lost some of it's class? I mean sure in the 80's and 90's there was a few mediocre titles(mostly just low-budget hentai.), yet in those decades, they still had some classy titles to balance stuff out..

While I do not understand what you mean by 'class,' as the word itself is arbitrary, I find your sentiments comparable, but not quite.

I think anime is moving towards a generalized medium with heavy slice-of-life motifs. Anime back when they 'had' class seldom advertised on the sexy-orientated component. Would the change in now be because of socioeconomic influence? Modern anime follow the premise that a profit should be made. Profits derives from what the audience wants. While there are some modern anime that have 'class,' I can assure that they will not sell like hot-pockets--for the reason that it is too intellectual and/or plot-based--maybe it would make up for it over time, but not immediately.
For example, Akira, the movie I pretty much consider to the founder of Anime, can be what you call a classic. But you don't hear people talking about it. It had grown towards defunct and because the story is so deep, the general audience would miss little nuances and 'stuff.' If anime hadn't been around and Akira had been released today, would you really want to watch it? Given the mindset of the audience, it probably would not be as popular, and anime would have had an even slower start up.

So what I mean is, class is a dynamic word. It changes with time, but static to the individual. Anime that have class these days are those that can get the laughs or just have a damn interesting plot. However, the simpler and unique the plot is, the bigger the audience range.

I do feel as though a lot of modern anime have that "dime-a-dozen" feel.
but different viewers look for different qualities in the anime they watch. so not everyone gravitates toward the intelligent plot-driven archetype you described. For instance I like K-ON! for different reasons than say Cowboy Bebop, Big O, or Serial Experiments Lain. they all make an appeal to a certain part of me, the viewer. if that makes any sense.

well given the number of anime i think it might be a litlle hard to come up with something totally new...however i do feel like this new animes(some,not all) are similar to old ones just with new names...hopefully this is just a transition period until new younger creators appear..

Anime never lost anything. Infact, modern anime tends to outdo a good portion of pre-2000 anime. The reason you think it lacks something is because more of it is being made now than previously.

I think it has more to do with the rise of popularity of the genre.

true...anime is becoming a lot more popular in Europe and USA then it was...maybe the producers in Japan seeing this decided that more was better then quality...

I don't know if you guys realize, but this "trend" can be seen in most, if not all, modern and developing media out there. People criticize Music, Cinema, Photography (and in this case Anime) and so on in the same way, for turning into mediocre copies of previous works, or for seeming too one-dimensional.
Well, since the entertainment industry thrives on adapting to its audience, this change we see, for good or bad, is basically the industry's way of dealing with the socioeconomic improvements of society.
Also, coming up with original ideas, specially now that we've had a century of innovation upon innovation, is not easy at all. In fact, many of the programs of one generation are either rip-offs of much older programs, or ideas that developed from a similar program that came before.

TL;DR, I know, but my point is: Our generation might be our favourite, but remember that the new generation is probably its spectators' favourite too. Try asking younger people if all the cool stuff we loved is still as cool as before. You see that a minority, a niche of them, can be considered "old school". These will have a clear preference for older works. For the majority, though, the new media are the coolest, and the older media are corny or outdated.

Maybe we're getting old and we're reaching that threshold where we can't quite follow the changes anymore. Or perhaps all the ideas of this generation have already been messed with way too much ;D
What do you guys think?

hmm well I'm a fan of the classics, but I'm always eager to check out some new anime when its released, provided it looks interesting. anyway, classics are classics for a reason. they withstand the test of time. so there will be at least some fans who likes a gem or 2 from this generation. treasuring the past, while embracing the future!

All interesting points of view..

But I can agree, coming up with something original can be rough..

With my own story ideas, it's taken a while to mold it all up into something original..(Now only if I can get to writing them..)

But then again..

When someone comes up with a unique and original idea for an anime.. once it's released and successful.. everyone follows suit and tries to cash in on the idea..

When someone comes up with a unique and original idea for an anime.. once it's released and successful.. everyone follows suit and tries to cash in on the idea..

Yeah, that tends to happen a lot. But if you think about it, isn't it sort of constructive to add up to original ideas? I mean, can you imagine if every single work released was original? That would be so bad for aspiring artists T^T
So yeah, sometimes taking the tried and true formula, and adding an original spin to it, makes for something quite enjoyable. Off the top of my head, "Ano Natsu de Matteru" is an interesting example. It is just like Onegai Teacher, except for some minor differences and improvements. Right now, it is one of the most popular ongoing series in Japan!
Sometimes, though, it's good to appreciate an original work, even if it feels like the producers tried a bit too hard. "It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation", after all ;D

hn to be because the anime of today have more affinity to entertain trade with complex histories. I'm
not saying that all anime are so today, but many.
They sell especially fashion concepts. This attracts the attention and any anime with a story more or
less understandable and people who always say the same thing sold.

a rather curious reflex of the current interests of society (..) ECHII, MOE, HENTAI.. FASERVICE, leave
out the whole story! YEAH

is a bit ridiculous that we find reached that extremity, I mean, everything has it's limits, right?

I would not mind whether at least one in the month would not insult my intelligence

Being original is really tough. Now a days people will come up ideas that attracts a lot of customers. A lot of people like ECCHI anime so why not bring ecchi so the will have a lot of consumers

Well I really don't know about lack of class Stuff like Code Geass have been released which was downright awesome but I agree about bleach both the heroes and the villains are one dimensional in bleach